A Leitwind turbine at Grouse Mountain, British Columbia. Image: New West snow blog.

This article, by Kristen Lummis writing on the New West snow blog, has a number of salient points for people interested in local renewable energy. Unlike in Australia, a growing number of resorts in North America and elsewhere are moving down the path of producing their own energy to run their operations. Many of them are using turbines. And the turbines are proving to be tourist draw cards.

Maybe we could start thinking outside the box when it comes to reducing the environmental footprint of our resorts while also driving greater decentralisation of energy supply? Having a turbine in the background is a good reminder that the energy running the lifts and buildings (and possibly making snow) has to come from somewhere, so it’s better if its environmentally benign.